Genevalor Benbassat & Cie

Genevalor Benbassat & Cie is an asset manager located in Geneva, Switzerland.[1][2][3][4][5] The firm set up five European feeder funds that invested almost $2 billion into Bernie Madoff's criminal Ponzi scheme.

Genevalor Benbassat & Cie
Industryasset management
Founded1983
FounderMario Benbassat
Headquarters6 Place Camoletti,
Geneva
,
Switzerland
Websitewww.genevalor.ch

History

Genevalor was founded in 1983.[6] In 1992 Sonja Kohn introduced Bernie Madoff to Mario Benbassat, founder of Genevalor Benbassat & Cie, and his two sons in New York, as a possible source of new funds for Madoff.[2][7][8][9] Genevalor set up five European feeder funds, including $1.1bn Irish fund Thema International Fund set up by Thema Asset Management, a British Virgin Islands-based company 55 per cent owned by Genevalor, and invested almost $2 billion with Madoff.[7][8][10] Thema International paid fees of 1.25 per cent ($13.75m a year) to Genevalor Benbasset & Cie. [10] The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2008 that the company was said to be a key player distributing Madoff investments in the Madoff investment scandal.[11]

In December 2010, U.S. court-appointed trustee Irving Picard sued HSBC for $9 billion, accusing it of aiding the Madoff fraud “through the creation, marketing and support of an international network of a dozen feeder funds."[12][13] The feeder funds named included Genevalor, Benbassat & Cie, which said: “it strongly denies any allegation that it had prior knowledge of the fraud committed by Madoff. This unfounded action causes a significant harm to the investors and to itself.”[12]

In February 2014, Genevalor, Benbassat & Cie on behalf of three funds, who invested with a company owned by Madoff, sued five Lloyd's syndicates under an insurance policy.[14]

In September 2017, Thema agreed to pay $687 million to victims of the Madoff fraud to resolve a lawsuit by Picard.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Genevalor, Benbassat & Cie. - Asset Manager, Switzerland". www.swfinstitute.org.
  2. "Trustee Reaches $687M Settlement with Feeder Fund in Madoff Scam". Bloomberg. September 7, 2017.
  3. "List of Investors Hit by Madoff Meltdown". Fox News. March 25, 2015.
  4. Meyer, Jeffrey; Califano, Mark; Volcker, Paul (2006). Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil for Food Scandal and the Threat to the UN. PublicAffairs – via Google Books.
  5. HedgeWorld Annual Compendium. HedgeWorld Limited. 2004 – via Google Books.
  6. Ruche, Sébastien (September 11, 2017). "A la chasse aux millions de Bernard Madoff". Le Temps.
  7. Henriques, Diana B. (2011). Bernie Madoff, the Wizard of Lies. Oneworld Publications – via Google Books.
  8. Keena, Colm (December 10, 2010). "Dublin-registered Thema part of complaint filed to recoup $9bn received under Madoff". The Irish Times.
  9. Allan Dodds Frank (February 20, 2011). "Sonja Kohn, Bernie Madoff's Bag Lady". Newsweek.
  10. "Madoff looking for new money as scandal hit". Financial Times.
  11. Forelle, Charles (December 17, 2008). "In Geneva, Spotlight Casts an Unwelcome Glare on Banks". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. "HSBC fights Madoff claim; new settlement reached". Reuters. December 6, 2010.
  13. Sallier, Pierre-Alexandre (December 7, 2010). "Plainte à 9 milliards contre le réseau Madoff formé par HSBC et des sociétés genevoises". Le Temps.
  14. "Mayer Brown defends five Lloyd's syndicates from Madoff action". Legal Week. February 11, 2014.
  15. "Irish fund Thema International to pay $687m to Madoff victims". The Irish Times. September 7, 2017.

Official website

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